French Onion Soup Macaroni and Cheese

January 20, 2013

Sometimes when life gets incredibly hectic there’s nothing to do but call in for back up support. So I’ve lined up a few guest posts from some of my dear friends to help get me through January! Please give a warm welcome to Carrie from Bakeaholic Mama. Carrie and I got to spend some time together (not nearly enough) at Mixed Conference and I just adore her. I’m so excited to be spotlighting her delicious food today. Take it away, Carrie!

Macaroni and cheese is a meal we all grew up eating. Whether it was from the blue box, or a mom’s best ever baked version. We all love it. Over the years I have made many many versions incorporating any and every cheese I can get my hands on. From time to time I like to switch it up and add some of my favorite adult flavors to make my kid friendly meal more grown up. Like this Buffalo Chicken Mac n’ Cheese, or one of my latest favorites, Jalapeno Popper Macaroni and Cheese. There are so many variations you can try with a meal as versatile as just pasta and cheese sauce.

Recently I have become obsessed with these French Onion Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, it occurred to me that I could do something similar with my favorite cheesy dish. Why not top a Gruyere macaroni and cheese with some caramelized onions and croutons. It will have all the components of French Onion Soup.

In a medium saute pan add butter, olive oil, onions and thyme over medium-low heat. Saute, stirring occasionally. After about 15 minutes stir in white wine to deglaze the pan. Continue to caramelize the onions until they are golden brown in color (approximately 20-30 minutes total cooking time). Remove thyme stems and set onions aside.

Add butter and flour to a medium sauce pan on medium heat. Whisk constantly until a paste forms. Slowly pour in your milk while whisking constantly. Bring sauce to a boil.

Mix in the cheeses, garlic, salt and nutmeg while stirring with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. When all the cheese has melted and the sauce is smooth remove from heat.

In a large bowl or pan mix cooked pasta together with the cheese sauce. Pour macaroni into a large casserole dish.

Top with caramelized onions. Crumble croutons over the top of the onions. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes until the top has browned and the cheese is bubbling.

oh girl. now THIS is my kind of mac and cheese. french onion soup is SO amazing but I have never, ever, ever thought to combine the flavors with mac and cheese. you are my all star Jen!!!! I am obsessed!

This is incredible!! Licking my screen thinking it will taste like French Onion Soup Mac N Cheese is not so incredible. You combined two of my favorite comfort food dishes, you brilliant mac and cheese mastermind, you!

OMG! You have managed to combine two of my favorite things! My sister’s too – see if I can keep from squealing to her about it before I have a chance to try it and surprise her with it. I come from a long line of macaroni and cheese hounds, and most of us are huge French onion soup fans too. This must be awesome! :)

I wanted to let you know that the instructions do not tell you when to add the nutmeg . At what point does this go in? We made this tonight and did not use Nutmeg because we did not know when it went in.

Thank you so much for mentioning this and I sincerely apologize for the oversight! I’ve fixed the instructions. You add it with the cheese. The nutmeg is just a subtle back note; omitting it should not have dramatically altered the flavor. I hope you enjoyed the recipe!

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